I believe that one of the most important qualifications for a successful trader is “POISE”, which to me is defined as stability, a well balanced person with dignity of manner – as it relates to the stock market.
A poised person is a person who can handle their hopes and their fears in a calm manner.
The other qualification is “PATIENCE” to wait for the opportune time, when as many factors as possible are positioned in the traders favor.
Poise and patience are the close friends of successful traders.
The final qualification is “SILENT”. Keep your own silent counsel – keep your victories and your failures to yourself – learn from them both.
Poise, patience and silence are attributes that must be cultivated.
These virtues do not come automatically to the stock market trader.
Archives of “virtues” tag
rssPatience and Discipline
While these two virtues are over-worked and very often mentioned when determining what unsuccessful traders lack, not many will argue with their merits. Indeed. Don’t trade just for the sake of trading or just because you haven’t traded for a while. Let those very good trading “set-ups” come to you, and then act upon them in a prudent way. The market will do what the market wants to do — and nobody can force the market’s hand.
Golf/Trading Quotes
Yesterday night I was reading huge list of quotes about golf. After reading them I realized that if you substituted the word trading for every time the word golf appears in these quotes, that the same statements would hold true.
“Golf [Trading] is about how well you accept, respond to, and score with your misses much more so than it is a game of your perfect shots.” – Dr. Bob Rotella
“One of the most fascinating things about golf [trading] is how it reflects the cycle of life. No matter what you shoot – the next day you have to go back to the first tee and begin all over again and make yourself into something.” – Peter Jacobsen
“No-one will ever have golf [trading] under his thumb. No round ever will be so good it could not have been better. Perhaps this is why golf [trading] is the greatest of games.” – Bobby Jones
“Golf [Trading] is the closest game to the game we call life. You get bad breaks from good shots; you get good breaks from bad shots – but you have to play the ball where it lies.” – Bobby Jones
“Golf [Trading] is not a game of great shots. It’s a game of most accurate misses. The people who win make the smallest mistakes.” – Gene Littler
“Golf [Trading] is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated.” – Arnold Palmer
“The fundamental problem with golf [trading] is that every so often, no matter how lacking you may be in the essential virtues required of a steady player, the odds are that one day you will hit the ball straight, hard, and out of sight. This is the essential frustration of this excruciating sport. For when you’ve done it once, you make the fundamental error of asking yourself why you can’t do this all the time. The answer to this question is simple: the first time was a fluke.” – Colin Bowles
“Golf [Trading] is a difficult game, but it’s a little easier if you trust your instincts. It’s too hard a game to try to play like someone else.” – Nancy Lopez
“Golf [Trading] is 20 percent talent and 80 percent management.” – Ben Hogan (more…)
The Top 10 Mistakes Traders Make
1. Failure to have a trading plan in place before a trade is executed.
A trader with no specific plan of action in place upon entry into a futures trade does not know, among other things, when or where he or she will exit the trade, or about how much money may be made or lost. Traders with no pre-determined trading plan are flying by the seat of their pants, and that’s usually a recipe for a “crash and burn.”
2. Inadequate trading assets or improper money management.
It does not take a fortune to trade futures markets with success. Traders with less than $5,000 in their trading accounts can and do trade futures successfully. And, traders with $50,000 or more in their trading accounts can and do lose it all in a
heartbeat. Part of trading success boils down to proper money management and not gunning for those highly risky “home-run” type trades that involve too much trading capital at one time.
3. Expectations that are too high, too soon.
Beginning futures traders that expect to quit their “day job” and make a good living trading futures in their first few years of trading are usually disappointed. You don’t become a successful doctor or lawyer or business owner in the first
couple years of the practice. It takes hard work and perseverance to achieve success in any field of endeavor — and trading futures is no different. Futures trading is not the easy, “get-rich-quick” scheme that a few unsavory characters make it out to be. (more…)
Most Important Qualifications for a Successful Trader
I believe that one of the most important qualifications for a successful trader is “POISE”, which to me is defined as stability, a well balanced person with dignity of manner – as it relates to the stock market.
A poised person is a person who can handle their hopes and their fears in a calm manner.
The other qualification is “PATIENCE” to wait for the opportune time, when as many factors as possible are positioned in the traders favor.
Poise and patience are the close friends of successful traders.
The final qualification is “SILENT”. Keep your own silent counsel – keep your victories and your failures to yourself – learn from them both.
Poise, patience and silence are attributes that must be cultivated.
These virtues do not come automatically to the stock market trader.
Five Trading Virtues: Best Practices for Traders
1) Preparation to start the day and week: Having a clearly formulated strategy to guide trading decisions;
2) Keeping score: Using a trading journal to structure learning, document progress, and sustain positive motivation;
3) Managing risk and maximizing opportunity: Trading with more risk/size when trading well and clearly seeing opportunity and pulling back risk when drawing down, trading poorly, and perceiving little opportunity;
4) Taking breaks: Stepping back from markets periodically to gain fresh perspective, reformulate views, and tweak strategies;
5) Treating trading as a business: Limiting overhead, having a clearly defined plan to move toward profitability, focusing on distinctive areas of strengths and opportunity.
So much of what makes traders great is what they do between market sessions, how they do it, and how much of it they do.
6 Mistakes Traders Make
1. Failure to have a trading plan in place before a trade is executed. A trader with no specific plan of action in place upon entry into a futures trade does not know, among other things, when or where he or she will exit the trade, or about how much money may be made or lost. Traders with no pre-determined trading plan are flying by the seat of their pants, and that’s usually a recipe for a “crash and burn.”
2. Inadequate trading assets or improper money management. It does not take a fortune to trade futures markets with success. Traders with less than $5,000 in their trading accounts can and do trade futures successfully. And, traders with $50,000 or more in their trading accounts can and do lose it all in a heartbeat. Part of trading success boils down to proper money management and not gunning for those highly risky “home-run” type trades that involve too much trading capital at one time.
3.Expectations that are too high, too soon. Beginning futures traders that expect to quit their “day job” and make a good living trading futures in their first few years of trading are usually disappointed. You don’t become a successful doctor or lawyer or business owner in the first couple years of the practice. It takes hard work and perseverance to achieve success in any field of endeavor–and trading futures is no different. Futures trading is not the easy, “get-rich-quick” scheme that a few unsavory characters make it out to be.
4.Failure to use protective stops. Using protective buy stops or sell stops upon entering a trade provide a trader with a good idea of about how much money he or she is risking on that particular trade, should it turn out to be a loser. Protective stops are a good money-management tool, but are not perfect. There are no perfect money-management tools in futures trading. (more…)
6 Mistakes done by Traders
1. Failure to have a trading plan in place before a trade is executed. A trader with no specific plan of action in place upon entry into a futures trade does not know, among other things, when or where he or she will exit the trade, or about how much money may be made or lost. Traders with no pre-determined trading plan are flying by the seat of their pants, and that’s usually a recipe for a “crash and burn.”
2.Expectations that are too high, too soon. Beginning futures traders that expect to quit their “day job” and make a good living trading futures in their first few years of trading are usually disappointed. You don’t become a successful doctor or lawyer or business owner in the first couple years of the practice. It takes hard work and perseverance to achieve success in any field of endeavor–and trading futures is no different. Futures trading is not the easy, “get-rich-quick” scheme that a few unsavory characters make it out to be.
3.Failure to use protective stops. Using protective buy stops or sell stops upon entering a trade provide a trader with a good idea of about how much money he or she is risking on that particular trade, should it turn out to be a loser. Protective stops are a good money-management tool, but are not perfect. There are no perfect money-management tools in futures trading.
4.Lack of “patience” and “discipline.” While these two virtues are over-worked and very often mentioned when determining what unsuccessful traders lack, not many will argue with their merits. Indeed. Don’t trade just for the sake of trading or just because you haven’t traded for a while. Let those very good trading “set-ups” come to you, and then act upon them in a prudent way. The market will do what the market wants to do–and nobody can force the market’s hand.
5.Trading against the trend–or trying to pick tops and bottoms in markets. It’s human nature to want to buy low and sell high (or sell high and buy low for short-side traders). Unfortunately, that’s not at all a proven means of making profits in futures trading. Top pickers and bottom-pickers usually are trading against the trend, which is a major mistake.
6.Letting losing positions ride too long. Most successful traders will not sit on a losing position very long at all. They’ll set a tight protective stop, and if it s***they’ll take their losses (usually minimal) and then move on to the next potential trading set up. Traders who sit on a losing trade, “hoping” that the market will soon turn around in their favor, are usually doomed.
Top 6 Mistakes Traders Make
1. Failure to have a trading plan in place before a trade is executed. A trader with no specific plan of action in place upon entry into a futures trade does not know, among other things, when or where he or she will exit the trade, or about how much money may be made or lost. Traders with no pre-determined trading plan are flying by the seat of their pants, and that’s usually a recipe for a “crash and burn.”
2.Expectations that are too high, too soon. Beginning futures traders that expect to quit their “day job” and make a good living trading futures in their first few years of trading are usually disappointed. You don’t become a successful doctor or lawyer or business owner in the first couple years of the practice. It takes hard work and perseverance to achieve success in any field of endeavor–and trading futures is no different. Futures trading is not the easy, “get-rich-quick” scheme that a few unsavory characters make it out to be.
3.Failure to use protective stops. Using protective buy stops or sell stops upon entering a trade provide a trader with a good idea of about how much money he or she is risking on that particular trade, should it turn out to be a loser. Protective stops are a good money-management tool, but are not perfect. There are no perfect money-management tools in futures trading.
4.Lack of “patience” and “discipline.” While these two virtues are over-worked and very often mentioned when determining what unsuccessful traders lack, not many will argue with their merits. Indeed. Don’t trade just for the sake of trading or just because you haven’t traded for a while. Let those very good trading “set-ups” come to you, and then act upon them in a prudent way. The market will do what the market wants to do–and nobody can force the market’s hand. (more…)
Important Qualifications for a Successful Trader
I believe that one of the most important qualifications for a successful trader is “POISE”, which to me is defined as stability, a well balanced person with dignity of manner – as it relates to the stock market.A poised person is a person who can handle their hopes and their fears in a calm manner.The other qualification is “PATIENCE” to wait for the opportune time, when as many factors as possible are positioned in the traders favor.Poise and patience are the close friends of successful traders.The final qualification is “SILENT”. Keep your own silent counsel – keep your victories and your failures to yourself – learn from them both.Poise, patience and silence are attributes that must be cultivated.These virtues do not come automatically to the stock market trader.